So today is my birthday, and everyone has already been really really nice about that, and since no one has sighed yet or glanced impatiently at their watches no matter how many times I exclaim, “These are my favorites!” as I throw yet another batch of Artistry on Ice picspam on here, probably because everyone kindly recognizes that repeating oneself is a sign of aging, which I’m merrily doing right now as we speak, I’m just going to play my favorites card again today because it’s my birthday (did I mention that? Did we also talk about age-related forgetfulness? I can’t remember. Note: people who correspond with me frequently will recognize these as actual conversational moments), except that these are really really really my favorites. All from the second stop of the tour, Shanghai, bookended by simply stupendous fan art from Guangzhou.

And so in thanks for all the lovely tweets and posts and photos and everything today, here is my gift to you: yet more amazing moments from China with our magical Diva Ice King.We begin with this brief video that absolutely made my day when I saw it.Johnny is such a larger-than life figure, a huge talent who has taken his place on the world’s stage multiple times, from captivating audiences around the globe in three Olympics—twice as athlete, a third as insightful, witty, and mega-fashionable commentator—and endless tours and television appearances, to passionately speaking his own mind to an international audience on topics ranging from being denigrated by newscasters to wearing fur to fighting for LGBT rights, and standing by his words and beliefs no matter what anyone else says.And yet here he is, talking with his fans in Shanghai about... hair issues. Like a regular person.I could watch this all day. It makes me laugh every time. Also it’s likely that I might forget that I watched it. But I could think of worse fates than being delighted anew by Johnny multiple times a day...

Both series of Shanghai performance photos below—Bollywood and Concubine—are by the same tremendously talented photographer from Weibo. Please, please click any photo twice for the full-size image. These may take a moment to load, but, as always, are well worth the wait.

Shanghai Favorites.

Part 1: Bollywood.

This program, as amazing as it is, is in danger of being overshadowed by the already legendary Concubine program from the AOI tour. So today I’m taking my time to savor Johnny’s “Nagada Sang Dhol” program all over again through these gorgeous pics.

This photo series, from Johnny’s Shanghai performance of “Farewell My Concubine” with partner Zhang Hao, is unlike any other series I’ve seen. The composition of the photos combined with the lighting and detail render these truly works of art. Please take your time in scrolling through these, and please be sure to click to the full-size images on the biggest monitor you can find. Johnny and Zhang’s facial expressions are captured here so well and so beautifully that the photos alone are as moving as the performance.

As incredible as it is to see Johnny perform, it is equally riveting to watch him rehearse. Someone had the genius idea to pair this rehearsal footage from Shanghai with Lady Gaga’s “Applause.” I love this so much that it is my other fav video in this post besides the hair one. And now I need a full Johnny “Applause” program please....

Johnny stars in To Russia With Love, a new documentary about LGBT athletes, portions of which were filmed in secret during his time in Sochi as an NBC figure skating commentator. He also is an executive producer for the film, a project of Robert Redford’s Sundance Productions, which will premiere October 22.